Okay, I play a lot of campaigns and the first (serious) issues is that the Russian A0 is a T-34, this is bad. One shot and the HQ could be dead and the CG over. Most all CG have the A0 as a Infantry HQ. I suggest the same.

Not sure what the point of the first scenario is. Its an easy win, and a no move no fire thing.

On the second scenario and I like the way the map is portrayed and the line up. So far got my engineers up to the RR bridge and attempting to remove the obstacles. Two of my T-34's are damaged to those AT Gun Pillboxes.

Note: I'm going to write up a little fun story about the Motherland's finest in the core when testing it, and practice my drawing a bit, just for fun. Skip to the end of the post(s) for the scenario summary...

Scen 00 - “Tour de force”

Lt. Col Gubenko stepped out into the sunlight. The brightness of the sun hurt his eyes. He had a foul taste in his mouth. Thirst troubled him. And on top of everything else a head-ache made his life miserable.
- F**king f**k, he sighed.

(Lt.Col Gubenko)

In front of the small peasant house where Gubenko had spent the night stood Major Shushkevich. Tidy, as always, Shushkevich stood there with I triumphant grin.
- Group assembled, as ordered, he said without saluting.
Gubenko felt a bit like a slob. Damn Shushevich, he always had had a knack for a smart appearance, even in the field. The two of them went back a long way. Tank school at Tjeljabinsk. Stalingrad. Ponary. The Ukraine. Their regiment had been all but wiped out and the survivors brought back, moved north and reorganised into a new unit.
It was that unit that stood lined up.
Awaiting orders.
Gubenko and Shushevich, and a handful of others were all that remained of the old unit. Most were new faces. Most had not seen the front yet.

The troops were assembled in companies. First the tankers. These were Shushkevich’s men. The crews of the ten T-34s – sleek, robust, powerful machines - some armed with 85mm guns. They were Gubenko’s hard fist.

Next Makarov and his mortarmen.
Makarov was an gorilla-like man with university background. Mathematics. A lot of the mortarmen looked strong and sturdy. They had trucks to move around their 82mm mortars but it still took a strong fellow to manhandle the tubes, base plate and all that other stuff.

Finally there was Dolya and his crowd. Captain Peretz Davidovich Dolya was of small size but one of the most able and driven officers Gubenko had ever seen. Dolya was an old hand, from the original unit. He never talked much about himself but it was known all of his family had been trapped behind German lines in the summer of 1941.
The company behind him was a mixed bag. It included two motorised rifle platoons of mostly untried men. There was an engineer platoon, also motorised.
Then there was Beregovoy’s circus.

Danila Beregovoy met Gubenko’s gaze with a small nod of recognition that said “we are ready”. Beregovoy had little education - but he was intelligent, ambitious and had limited respect for authority. In war he was a great asset, in civilian life he had probably been a criminal. Outside a small ravaged village in the Ukraine last summer, Beregovoy had saved Gubenko’s bacon. Beregovoy had also supplied the HQ section with the vodka that accounted for Gubenko’s present state of thirst and head-ache. Beregovoy commanded the Recon Platoon, a collection of thugs with two unusual vehicles - one a western type, one a captured fascist half-track.

At the very end stood the Ukrainian Lyashenko with his driver. Sargeant Lyashenko was the artillery forward observer, one of the most important men in the unit. He was new to the unit but had been at the front for more than a year.

- Very good, said Gubenko to Shushkevich. Dismiss them. Ready to march; one hour.

Infantry had been in action all morning fighting in the marshland on both sides of the railroad Gubenko had been tasked with opening. In this area the railroad embankment was the only suitable land where his vehicles could advance. His plan was simple. While artillery fire targeted the German trenches in depth his own mortars would lay down smoke to cover Beregovoy leading the Recon and Engineer platoons who where to clear German obstacles on two rail road bridges close to their jump off point. Once cleared he would send Shushkevich’s tanks punching through the German defences. He did assume the Germans would also have the bridges mined but did not expect them to have deployed many more mines. Fritz believed in mobility, not minefields.

(Turns 1-5)
In between the sound of exploding 152 and 122mm artillery shells Beregovoy could hear the racket of infantry weapons – particularly the fearsome rapid chatter of Hitler’s Saw. He hated that particular sound. A curtain of smoke, fired from Makarov’s mortars, obscured them from enemy view as his men and those of Dmitirienko’s engineers raced forward to the bridges mounted in the trucks of the Engineers.
At the bridge they dismounted and quickly cleared the German obstacles, crossed to the other side of the stream and advanced along the railroad.
It didn’t take them long before they discovered a solid belt of mines.
Damn it, Beregovoy thought. We’ll need more smoke.
Dmitrienko was on his engineers like an angry bee.
Faster, faster, faster!
If they were could out here one the smoke lifted it wouldn’t be pretty.

From the German trenches Beregovoy could hear the sound of heavy fighting.

(Turns 6-10)
Gubenko sat in his command tank with a hand drawn sketch of the area in his lap. He did not have a proper map. The infantry companies had penetrated into the enemy trenches and reported success. Dmitrienko and his engineers were working hard and had and had almost breached a path trough the obstacles and it seemed as if he would accomplish his task without great difficulty when a signal from the forward element came in:
Urgent! Enemy counterattack! Assault guns. Company strength. Request tank support, end!
With a curse Gubenko immediately radioed Shushkevich.
“Storm 3-3-3! End!”
With a roar Shushkevich’s tank company moved out along the railroad.
It was too soon.

(Turns 11-20)
Alexander Popitich could see nothing from his tank as he followed the tank in front straight into the smoke. ‘Do as I do’ was the only advice his platoon leader had given before moving out. This was Popitich’s first battle. It was also the first battle for everyone in his crew. He commanded the third T-34/85 in the lead platoon – the only platoon in the company equipped with the newer T-34 model. The others all had older type T-34s with less advanced communication and less powerful armament. He had great faith in his machine but he felt extremely vulnerable as he moved forward into the smoke. He caught a glimpse of friendly troops on the ground, engineers, as the tank raced forward along the railroad track. Things were happening very fast.
Without warning the tank in front opened fire and about a hundred meters away something exploded almost immediately, a sudden bright light in the gray-black smoke. A few seconds passed and his tank lumbered forward passing a burning German assault gun.
Then, amongst the smoke, barely visible, he saw the next one.
Over the internal communication he ordered.
“Quick stop!”
The driver responded without delay. The tank came to a halt. Good man!
“Target tank! 100! Fire!”
The gunner fired too quick. It was close but the armour piercing round went high.
“Again! Armour piercing – Fire!”
The shot landed on the enemy vehicle front, next to the man gun. Popitich saw the impact. It was a clear hit. A jubilant shout left his throat. Burn fascist!
“Driver forward! Loader, armour piercing!”
Their own tank began moving again, coming abreast with the other two tanks in his platoon. They passed only meters away from the German victim. Popitich could see that it was not a tank, but another German assault gun. It was burning. It did not seem as if anyone had gotten out.
Then, just in front, next to a half razed barn, only 50 meters away, stood yet another German assault gun.
“Quick stop!”

(Popitich entering the fray...)

The tracks of the assault gun started to move. Pivoting on its own axis it brought its gun in the direction of Popitich’s T-34. He saw the enemy gun barrel swing and come to a halt. Popitich’s muscles tensed. His mind started racing while his body, without him really knowing it, prepared for a leap out of the turret hatch – but before he could move he felt the tank rock from the main gun being fired. He saw his gunner land the shot perfectly dead centre on the enemy assault gun.
There was a short delay and a hatch opened and a fascist tumbled over the side and disappeared from view.
The assault gun was dead.
He had not given any orders but the assault gun was dead. And he lived.
“Driver forward!”, he heard himself say.
They rolled forward, unstoppable - passed their own infantry, passed German infantry falling back in disarray. The machineguns fired as they raced down along a dirt road.
A loud bang ended it. The tank lifted from the ground and came to a complete halt.
It took a few seconds before he understood he had cheated death again. He was still alive. They had not been penetrated. The left track had blown off along with the two front wheels on the left side. They had hit a mine. The tank was now immobile. Infantry fire kept them buttoned up while the rest of the company motored past them on their right. Popitich counted the tanks. He wasn’t certain but it seemed as if two were missing.

(Turn 21-25)
Beregovoy was running. He had become separated from the bulk of his own platoon when the German assault guns first showed up and he had stuck with Dmitrienko’s engineers. Now he and two others were running for their lives. In front lay the enemy trenches.
50 meters to go.
It was difficult to breathe the smoke filled air.
He was sweating enormously.
His chest ached.
30 meters.
His foot slid on the edge of a shell hole.
He almost fell but stumbled forward.
Someone screamed next to him.
20 meters.
Now, now, now…
He flew forward.
And into the enemy trench.
Sub-machinegun at the ready.
There were dead Germans there. He fired a burst into a body to make sure. Behind them engineers tumbled into the German trench. He signed for his two men to follow and led them forward. They came to the opening of a bunker and to his horror Beregovoy realized that there were Germans inside.
“Flasks!”, he commanded and they readied their explosive bottles. Once lit he dashed forward and threw it into the bunker rear opening - and it was a beautiful throw. The bunker lit up. Something minor exploded. And almost straight away the Germans inside started shouting and as they came out, disoriented, some with uniforms burning, Beregovoy alone shot them. Every last one.

“All objectives taken.. Awaiting orders.”
The sound of Shushkevich’s calm voice over the battalion net declared victory.
Gubenko ordered his tank forward. Curled up inside was the political commissar who protested. Probably because he thought there might still be Germans left. Gubenko ignored the commissar. A handful of German prisoners were being marched to the rear.
They negotiated the cleared lane tin the enemy minefields and at the first enemy trench line Gubenko ordered a halt. There was Captain Dolya, Dmitrienko of the engineers and Beregovoy.
Dolya spoke.
Without emotion he declared how the operation had proceeded. How he had followed up behind Dmitrienko and the engineers who had been very efficient in clearing a path through the obstacles. Gubenko congratulated Dmitrienko. He was an able officer, the engineers deserved praise. Gubenko also noted the pistol in Dolya’s right hand and an un-naturally tidy row of dead Germans nearby, all face down with bullet holes in the back of the head. It seemed obvious what had happened but Gubenko didn’t ask any questions. Beregovoy looked like seven troublesome years.
Nearby several shot up German assault guns stood immobile. Some burning, some looked abandoned. The report was that they numbered twelve all in all. Two T-34s had been lost. It was a trade Gubenko could accept.

- - - - - - - - - - -

End battle on turn 25, all VHs taken.
USSR lost
44 men
2 AFVs

Germany lost
202 men
3 artillery (mortars)
12 AFVs (StuGs)

I used the Aux infantry companies for the heavy lifting, and advanced the core infantry on the flanks of the railroad with the scouts, engineers and inf company HQ dismounted on the railroad to clear obstacles. I expected more German AT guns and artillery but less mines. I used a lot of smoke to conceal my own troops but lost two tanks to an immobilised StuG that managed to get a clear field of fire when blocking smoke lifted. The counterattack by the StuG company size element works fine. The Begleit-infanterie (of course) quickly melt away in the artillery and machinegun fire.

Silly me. Had a nice thing going in the second battle 'til the AO got wasted by a panzerschreck from the rear. Plus my guys got a bit overextended and ultimately succumbed to unopposed infantry. The tanks wound up fighting blind without their grunty mates. Guess I'm not ready for prime time.

With a little more patience and prudence an MV might have been possible. As it was, going hell-for-leather to beat the clock led to too many casualties along the way, especially in infantry and transport. By the time the last few objectives were in sight there was hardly a ground-pounder left to spot the bad guys. I'd do an AAR but it would be too painful to recall.

Seriously, this campaign is good to go. Offbeat, creative, and really challenging. I'll give it another try once the psychological scars have healed. Thanks and have a happy.

Last edited by jivemi; August 25th, 2013 at 09:29 AM..
Reason: bittersweet

Yikes. Hope I didn't break your spirit. I anticipated the second and especially the third battle to be kind of tricky. They have relatively small margins of error. The trick is using your recon to uncover the enemy positions, destroy those closest to the road, direct fire tank smoke at the rest and then feed your infantry through. The defensive line is not very strong, but tricky to attack without heavy artillery. Use mortar smoke on it, then close assault with engineers and infantry. This time they don't have minefields ready, so that makes it easier to overrun the trenches.

Generally speaking I like scenarios that have a certain "twist" to them. A user made campaign should not provide the kind of experience you can get from a long campaign. Of course that means that sometimes you need to try a scenario twice or change up your tactics a lot. I think I might provide some more hints in the briefing, so people don't go in blind.

Start of turn 6, lost all three of the BA-64's and my Scout Car (M3A1), and then lost an entire T-34 platoon to one ATG, and lost 2/3 of the second platoon to a StuG. So out of 10x T-34 I have 5x left.

Going to push it but looks like this scenario is a bust and I'll have not surviving tanks to make it to the main line. Going to push that H0 and A0 T-34 and see how bad it gets.